World Music Day 2025: From Street Jams To Concert Halls, The World Plays On
It’s that time of the year when musicians across the globe are gearing up for World Music Day. Also known as Fete de la Musique, it is an annual celebration that takes place on June 21. Interestingly, there is another day called International Music Day, which falls on October 1.
World Music Day originated in Paris in 1982 when music promoter Maurice Fleuret thought of ways to get people together on the streets to play music, in order to promote unity. Besides professionals supporting the cause, it featured amateurs and students. It became an annual festivity that spread to other countries. The International Music Day in October was mooted by violinist Yehudi Menuhin in 1975 as part of Unesco’s initiative.
India has also had its share of World Music Day events, with live concerts and radio shows. This year, a few shows are being organised in Mumbai, though all of them aren’t being promoted as Music Day shows. Among those that are, there is Papon’s ghazal show Shaam-e-Mehfil at Shanmukhananda Hall, Sion.
Other June 21 events include sitar exponent Niladri Kumar’s India Dream, at the Grand Theatre of the Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre (NMACC). It has the theme ‘One root, infinite melodies’. The centre is also hosting Carnatic 2.0, spearheaded by digital composer Mahesh Raghavan, at its Studio Theatre and the Pune Jazz Project’s A Night Of Jazz & Influences at the Cube.
Taylor Swift fans can enjoy the thematic Swiftie Party at Infinite Boudoir & Jardin, the hotspot on Bandra’s Hill Road. There will be over three hours of the pop star’s music, besides music video screenings and Taylor-made dress codes. While the party will be in full swing, one wonders how many know of the global occasion. Bonobo on Linking Road, Bandra, is dedicating its regular Wednesday night Live Is Everything series to World Music Day, with a show by guitarist Ravi Iyer and his fusion quartet on June 18. More announcements may be expected.
Among other cities, musicians Sourendra and Soumyajit will host their annual show on June 21 and 22 at the Science City Auditorium, Kolkata. It will feature Hariharan, Shankar Mahadevan, Sukhwinder Singh, Rekha Bhardwaj, Sid Sriram and Shilpa Rao among others. The department of tourism, Chandigarh, is also planning a big show.
Besides World Music Day and International Music Day, other special days are being observed by the music community. The most popular one is International Jazz Day on April 30. It was also declared by Unesco in 2011 in its efforts to promote global unity. The Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz, chaired by pianist Herbie Hancock, is the lead international partner. In Mumbai, ace pianist Louiz Banks curates the big show, which was held this year at St Andrew’s Auditorium in Bandra after being at Blue Frog and Tata Theatre earlier. Other shows were held at NMACC, AntiSocial in Lower Parel and Blue Bop Café in Khar. These were besides events in Delhi, Goa, Bengaluru, Pune and Kolkata.
Other days include International Blues Day, held on the first Saturday of every August. In Mumbai, guitarist Adil Manuel has curated some fabulous shows at AntiSocial. The city also has Mumbai Piano Day, curated by Louiz Banks, and Mumbai Drum Day, helmed by his son Gino Banks. These aren’t as per any international celebrations, and dates vary. But they have a following of their own.
In the West, Piano Day is celebrated on the 88th day of the year, which falls on March 29 unless it’s a leap year. This is because a standard piano has 88 keys. There is the World Drummers Day too on April 4, and Saxophone Day on November 6, birthday of the instrument’s inventor Adolphe Sax. There is National Guitar Day on February 11 and World Guitar Day on October 18. Wonder what the difference is. In India, sitar and tabla have their days too, but aren’t celebrated across the community. But then, for true aficionados, every day is World Music Day or Jazz Day or Tabla Day.
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